The Adair County R-II Board of Education has named Diane Bradley
as the new Superintendent effective July 1. She has served as
the guidance counselor for the past 21 years. During her tenure
at Brashear she has also:

Taught classes in Junior High math, English and careers; Elementary
gifted; High School health, psychology and pre-algebra

Served as Psychological Examiner and Director of Special Education

Been responsible for administration of the Safe and Drug Free
Schools Program and Goals 2000

Chaired the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan Committee

Implemented the Comprehensive Model Guidance Program, K-12

Provided before- and after-school tutoring for students

Held office of Secretary for the Local Administrators of Special
Education organization for Northeast Missouri

Held offices of Secretary, Treasurer and President for the
Brashear Community Teachers Association

Served as National Honor Society sponsor since 1980

Mrs. Bradley will be replacing Dr. Montgomery who has served as
Superintendent for the past three years. Dr. Montgomery has accepted
the position of Assistant Superintendent of the Kirksville R-III
School District.

Mrs. Bradley resides on a farm in rural Novelty with her husband
Dennis. They have two children Bobbi, a sophomore at University
of Missouri-Columbia and Ben, a senior at Adair County R-II High
School.

Mrs. Bradley received her B.S. in Education from Northeast Missouri
State University in May 1975, her M.A. in Guidance and Counseling
from Northeast Missouri State University in May 1980, and her
Specialist in Education, Superintendent & Secondary School
Principal from Northwest Missouri State University in December
2000.

TIGER PRIDE

Instructor Michael Killen took several projects from his Industrial
Technology classes to the district contest in Hannibal. The following
students won first place in their division and have qualified
for state contest on April 28: Woodworking-Josh Darnel, Meghan
Salter, Brooke Salter; Plastics-Brocke Drummond; Metals-Colby
Stutsman; Technology Exploration-Mike Colegrove, Damien Patterson,
Danny Clarkson; Industrial Crafts-Lisa Coin, Ricky Bunch, Cody
Salter.

While at the district competition, Mr. Killen was honored for
his work in technology education. He received the "Program
of the Year" award from the Northeast Technology Education
Association of Missouri. This award is for an outstanding technology
education program for middle school. Mr. Killen has been with
our district for the past 5 years.

The high school academic bowl team placed fourth at the district
tournament. Congratulations to Kelly Moore for being named to
the All-District Academic Bowl Team. Each year the Missouri Academic
Coaches Association (MACA) provides medals to the eight highest
scoring individuals at each district competition.

Our fifth and sixth graders recently participated in the "Reach
for the Stars" Savings Bond Poster Contest. We are very pleased
to learn that two sixth grade girls received Honorable Mention
for their posters. They are Ashley Clarkson and Patricia Woods.
Congratulations, girls!

Congratulations to Zac Erwin for being chosen basketball player
of the year by the Kirksville Daily Express. First team honors
went to Trevor Mills and Nathan Kelsey. Honorable Mention went
to Amber Dailing.

Amber Dailing has signed a letter of intent to play basketball
next year at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois.
Good luck Amber!

TITLE PROGRAMS EVALUATION

I would like to extend a thank you to all those parents, students,
board members, and community members who were able to attend the
Title Evaluation Night. Your ideas are truly respected.

Ann DeRosear

2001 YEARBOOK SALES

Just a reminder that yearbooks may still be purchased. Orders
received through April 30 will be $32. Yearbooks ordered on or
after May 1 will be $34.

FUNDING SOURCE REDUCED

This is the last year that the district will be able
to apply for Goals 2000 funds. Goals 2000 has supported a portion
of our nursing service, tutoring and Time Trackers for students
in grades K-12.

Next year we would like to use part of our funds to address "Proven
Reading Strategies to Improve Test Scores". In order to stretch
our money further we felt that the best place to reduce funding
was with the Time Trackers. For next year, we will be asking the
students to share a portion of the cost of the Time Tracker. We
are anticipating asking students to purchase their Time Tracker
for $3.00. We know that this places an added burden on the families,
but we also feel that the value of the Time Trackers as an organizational
tool and means of communication between the school and home are
well worth the money. Please consider purchasing Time Trackers
for your children next fall.

JUMP FOR HEART

On March 9, 2001 our annual Jump for Heart was held in the elementary
gym. Forty-six elementary students participated in the event and
raised $1,293.00 for the American Heart Association. Top fundraisers
for the event included Brandon Gordon $130.00, Daniel Smith $89.00,
and Michael McKim $79.00.

Thanks to all who helped make our Jump-a-thon a success. Special
thanks to Lacey Hale, Lacy Church and Tara Stutsman for helping
at the event. Also, a big thank you goes to Mrs. Kurth's home
economics classes for preparing the snacks and to Miss Bond for
serving them.

AWARDS BANQUET

The annual Awards Banquet will be held on Monday, May 7, 2001.
The banquet will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the high school gymnasium
with the awards ceremony to follow starting at approximately 7:00
p.m.

Each family attending the banquet is asked to bring two covered
dishes and their own table service. Drinks will be furnished by
PTS and some meat will be furnished by the Athletics Department.
The public is welcome to attend.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

The Adair County R-II High School graduation ceremony will be
held in the high school gymnasium on Sunday, May 27, 2001 at 2:00
p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend.

BOARD REORGANIZES

The Adair County R-II Board of Education met in special session
on Monday, April 9, 2001, to certify the election results and
to reorganize the Board. The officers elected are as follows:
President, Brenda Kelsey; Vice President, Doug Clarkson; Secretary
and MSBA Delegate, Mary Magruder; Treasurer, Eddy Turner. Members
are Kenny Crandall, Brent Hettinger, and Brad Smith.

LUNCH REFUNDS

Lunch refunds will only be given out to Seniors on the last day
of school. Karla will be sending home bills for those students
with a negative balance in their accounts. Any money remaining
in your child(ren)'s account(s) will be carried over to the 2001-2002
school year. Refunds will be given only if requested. If you have
any questions, please feel free to contact Renee or Karla at 323-5272.

MENU

Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast each day includes cereal, milk, juice or
fruit. New regulations mandate the main entrée for the
day must be placed on each tray (designated by * in daily menu).

Over the past three years I have used this column
to inform you - the students, parents, and taxpayers of Brashear
R-II School District - of our challenges and achievements.

Our school district is facing many decisions about
what to do with the elementary school building. The assessed valuation
of our school district is $8,575,956, this is ignoring state assessed
railroad and utility valuation that lies within the District's
boundaries. Our bonding capacity is 15% of our assessed valuation.
Based upon this data the District's bonding capacity would be
approximately $1,161,011. The District still owes $205,000 on
bonds maturing from March 1, 2002 through March 1, 2006. These
bonds can be prepaid (called) without any penalty.

We could do a new General Obligation Bond that produces
at least $500,000 for a new project. Any general obligation bonds
issue would need to be approved by a four-sevenths majority. The
filing deadline is January 22, 2002 if it is to be voted on at
the April 2, 2002 election. It is important to have some informational
meetings to discuss what needs to be done. The boiler in the elementary
will not last another winter without major repairs. It is hard
to make decisions when we don't have a crystal ball to see the
future. We are asking you to complete a survey and return it to
the school as soon as possible. This can help guide our decisions.

It is with mixed emotion that I write this May column.
May is a month of excitement for our seniors. Soon they will graduate
and will be embarking on new paths. It has been said there are
really only two good places - where we've been and where we're
going.

I would like to think that somehow the years our
students have had at our school has provided a striking moment
where, in a sense, time stood still, clocks froze, past and future
blended and cherished memories will be forever in our minds. If
we have touched each other, even slightly, with a little sentiment
and a bit of intellect and a lot of wisdom, then just having known
each other will forever enrich all our lives.

I have accepted the position of assistant superintendent
of the Kirksville R-III School District and will assume my new
duties July 1st. My lifelong goal is to make a difference
in the lives of others. I thank you for the opportunity to have
served this district. I will treasure the experiences we have
shared. I have made many friends here and wish you the very best.

Dr. Joyce Montgomery

Groundhog Job Shadowing Day

A huge thank you to all of the parents and local business people
who helped make our 2nd Annual Groundhog Job Shadow
Day a success. Fifty-nine students from grades 5, 6, and 10 were
out on the job on Friday, February 2.

Groundhog Job Shadow Day is sponsored by America's Promise, National
School-to-Work Opportunities Office, Junior Achievement and American
Society of Association Executives and is a day dedicated to giving
young people across America Job Shadowing experiences. Job Shadowing
enables students to shadow a workplace mentor as he or she goes
through a normal day on the job, providing an up-close look at
how the skills learned in school are put into action in the workplace.

Students returned from their Job Shadowing experience enthusiastic
and with a better understanding of how the skills learned in the
school environment are used in the "real world" work
place. We appreciate the effort put forth by the parents, mentors
and businesses involved in making this a successful learning experience
for these students.

Following is a list of businesses and/or people who donated their
time to this project.

John Niebruegge, DVM, K'ville Small Animal Clinic

Jack Schrader, Truman State University

Vickie Pruett, Northeast Regional Medical Center

Chris Bohon, DDS

Beth Schrage, NEMO Health Clinic

Brent Hettinger, Cable One

David Coin, Wire Rope Corporation of America

Scott Thrasher, Kirksville Police Dept.

John Slavin, Attorney at Law

Phillip Stitzer, D.O.

Bob Hardwick, Cable One

Terry Findling, Pro Tech

Deborah Holte, DPM, NEMO Foot Clinic

Katrina Hadley, Wal-Mart

Jeff McDivitt, HyVee

Renee Reeves, Adair County R-II School

Alan Rimer, Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home

Jodi Moots, Reflections 2000

Jay Schilling, Northeast Regional Medical Center

Billy Sutton, Sutton's Auto

Donna Bond, Adair County R-II School

Ken Clarkson, Ken C., Inc.

David Moore, DVM, Adair Co. Veterinary Clinic

Matt Reeves, Truman State University

Kelli Powell, Moberly Area Community College

Amy Grgurich, Dollar General

Brenda Killen, Truman State University

Peggy Woods, Kirksville Senior High

Becky Conn, Radio Park

Ruth Ann Moots, Moots Daycare

Raymond Rhoades, Edina Farm & Home

CoeAnn Hardwick, Chiropractor

Kevin White, Truman State University

Betty Hettinger, Hettinger Kennels

Shirley Phillips, Hair South

Darla Collop, Adair County Court House

Sandra Williams, Adair County Health Dept.

Randall Barnes, D.O.

Karen Billington, Home Care Medical Equipment

Traci Hill, Truman State University

Robert Mills, Adair County R-II School

J. L. Montgomery, MFA

Susie Poland, Early's Medical Practice

Elizabeth Hill, Homecare Management

Joyce Woods, Day Care

Joel Shipman, Schuyler R-I

Connie Johnson, Twin Pines

Bill Kuntz, Truman State University Farm

Larry O'Brien, O'Brien Farms

Darrin Mihalovich, Mark Twain Rural Telco

Karen Schneiderheinze, Alberty & Deveny Law

Kent Watson, Scholfield Veterinary

Sharron Bowen, Pyramid

Mark Anderson, Anderson Construction

Roxanne Gearhart, McRental's, Inc.

Brian's Welding, Edina, MO

Elementary Building Concerns Survey

The district has some important decisions to make about the future
building needs for the Brashear Elementary School. Please complete
the following survey and return it to the school by mail or in
person. The mailing address is: Adair County R-II School, Route
1 Box 6CB, Brashear, Missouri 63533.

In the elementary building, the heating system is in extreme need
of attention. It will require a large amount of money to repair
the old system, perhaps as much as $30,000. This will not, however,
address the issue of leaking pipes under the building and in some
of the existing classroom walls. Some of the walls are deteriorating
from the moisture and other walls collect mold.

Presently there is a leak in the kindergarten classroom and this
is thought to be caused by a damaged roof. It is also noted that
water is pooling in places on the roof.

The district is considering a number of options and we are asking
your input in the decision making process. We currently have money
available for Options 1, 2 or 3. Note that the last building construction
project in 1992 cost $390,000. This included four classrooms,
a library, and two bathrooms. Please refer to the letter "From
the Desk of the Superintendent" included in this newsletter
for more information.

IMMEDIATE CONCERNS

 Option A: Repair the old boiler during the summer
of 2001. (This will not address leaks in the walls and under the
building due to inaccessibility of pipes).

Cost: Approximately $ 30,000

 Option B: Install heating and duct work within the
existing structure during the summer of 2001 and abandon present
heating system (no air conditioning).

Cost: Approximately $ 50,000

 Option C: Install rooftop heating and air conditioning
units and repair roof at the same time during the summer of 2001.
This has the potential to reduce heating costs due to added roof
insulation.

BUILDING OPTIONS

 Option 1: Pass a Bond Issue (not requiring a tax
levy increase) and build a new building and repair the existing
heating source on an as needed basis so the existing building
could be used until a new building was built. (It is questionable
whether the heating system will last another year.) The projection
is that the most funds available for this project would
be approximately $500,000.

 Option 2: Pass a Bond Issue (not requiring a tax
levy increase) and build a new building in two phases ten to fifteen
years apart and replace the existing heating system with
Option B.

 Option 3: Pass a Bond Issue (not requiring a tax
levy increase) and build a new building in two phases ten to fifteen
years apart and replace the existing heating system with
Option C.

 Option 4: Pass a Bond Issue (not requiring a tax
levy increase) and build an addition to the existing elementary
building and replace the existing heating system with Option
B. See floor plan on the reverse side of "From the
Desk of the Superintendent".

 Option 5: Pass a Bond Issue (not requiring a tax
levy increase) and build an addition to the existing elementary
building and replace the existing heating system with Option
C. See floor plan on the reverse side of "From the
Desk of the Superintendent".